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Registered sex offender arrested on charge of child porn possession

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SALEM — Last Monday, agents from the Arkansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Taskforce, with assistance from the Arkansas State Police SWAT Team, the Saline County Sheriff’s Office and the Arkansas Department of Community Corrections executed a search warrant in the 8200 block of Zuber Road in Salem.

The search warrant was the result of an investigation prompted by a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) tip originating from a social media platform.

Mark Beagle Jr., 36, of Salem, was arrested, transported and booked into the Saline County Detention Center on 152 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.

Beagle is registered as a Level-3 sex offender, stemming from previous convictions.

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New grant to help with technology to keep highway crews safe

LITTLE ROCK – The work of responding to a crash on a state highway can be a dangerous situation for everyone involved, especially for highway work crews that help with removing debris.

Now, a $1 million grant will help ARDOT with removing debris from highways and keep crews safe, officials said Friday.

ARDOT received a $1 million grant from the United States Department of Transportation's Accelerated Innovation Deployment Demonstration Program to buy additional Lane Blade devices.

The devices are attached to highway vehicles to help remove debris from the road and help to make sure that workers do not have to get on the road to pick up debris, helping to clear roads, officials said.

With the grant, officials plan to buy 20 to 25 new Lane Blade attachments. The purchase will also help ARDOT have the largest fleet of Lane Blades in the nation.

Officials also said Friday that ARDOT will be able to purchase additional Lane Blades that will be able to be used in all counties with interstates and freeways around the state. Right now, there are three Lane Blades being used in Northeast Arkansas along the I-40 East Corridor in Crittenden, St. Francis and Monroe counties.

ARDOT plans to buy the additional Lane Blades either this winter or in spring 2025 and will have them deployed

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by summer 2025, officials said.

Highway officials applauded the receiving of the grant and said it will help highway crews, residents and visitors alike.

'Debris on our roadways presents an immediate danger to travelers, especially on busy highways,' ARDOT Assistant Chief Engineer for Maintenance Steve Frisbee said. 'Our goal is to find safer methods of debris removal that protect both our employees and the public. The Lane Blade allows us to do just that by keeping our crews inside their vehicles while effectively clearing the roads.'

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